Project FeederWatch - Week 9

Gonna be short with this week's observance for Project FeederWatch. As expected, all the usual suspects, nothing terribly unusual or uncommon. Highlights being as follows: 8 Northern Cardinals (all couples), the high number showing up at dusk; a good group of 16 House Finches causing a ruckus; 2 Carolina Wrens going back and forth between the front and back yards; the European Starling that showed up last week was present again at the suet feeder; and 2 faves of mine, that being 1 gorgeous male Red-bellied Woodpecker and the lone, ever-present Red-breasted Nuthatch! Below is the full listing, happy birding everyone!!

Mourning Dove	4
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1
Downy Woodpecker	2
Hairy Woodpecker	1
Blue Jay	4
Black-capped Chickadee	6
Tufted Titmouse	5
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1
White-breasted Nuthatch	1
Carolina Wren	2
European Starling	1
White-throated Sparrow	1
Dark-eyed Junco	2
Northern Cardinal	8
House Finch	16
American Goldfinch	5

Project FeederWatch - Week 5

Today in Week 5 of my participation in the 2010-2011 Project FeederWatch program featured the highest number of birds seen at any one time during the course of my observance today, that being 46 total birds compared to 43 from last weekend. The pair of boisterous and wicked cutesy (yes, I said cutesy) Carolina Wrens showed up today, eating all 3 varieties of birdy-goodness available (the black sunflower seeds in the main tube feeder; the suet cakes and Nyjer from the Nyjer seed tube feeder).


Woodpeckers were prevalent today, where 2 Red-bellied Woodpeckers made an appearance today, though only 1 can be counted for both were not together at the same time, unfortunately. 3 Downy Woodpeckers and 2 Hairy Woodpeckers also showed up.....too bad a Northern Flicker or Pileated Woodpecker didn't show up, or a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker for that matter (one had been seen a couple days ago in Framingham at a feeder).


For me, the biggest surprise of today's count was the number of Northern Cardinals that were around, 5 in all (2 males, 3 females) all at one particular moment in time during the course of my time watching the birdiness today. No matter how many times you see a Cardinal, I can always revel in the rich and bright redness of the male and the brown and subtle redness of the female!


Below, as always, is the full listing of birds seen....happy birding to all!!

Mourning Dove	5
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1
Downy Woodpecker	3
Hairy Woodpecker	2
Blue Jay	3
Black-capped Chickadee	8
Tufted Titmouse	7
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1
White-breasted Nuthatch	1
Carolina Wren	2
Dark-eyed Junco	5
Northern Cardinal	5
American Goldfinch	3

Project FeederWatch - Week 4

This weekend's observance featured the highest numbers of birds and bird species to date during my first go with Project FeederWatch, despite today's nasty weather filled with water and wind! 14 different species visited the feeders at our home (between 11:20 am and 4 pm), including the first White-throated Sparrow to visit during the Project so far. When White-throats first started showing up this season, they were seen for two weeks in a row prior to my joining up with FeederWatch. Since then, nothing seen until today.


A male Red-bellied Woodpecker made an appearance again, mowing down upon the suet before being driven off by Blue Jays. I found it highly amusing to see a small group of Mourning Doves (5 in all) flying in from across the yard all at once to the base of the main tube feeder filled with black sunflower seed, scattering the 2 Blue Jays, gray squirrels and a female Northern Cardinal that had been busy pecking away at the ground for sustenance at the time.


The biggest surprise for me was seeing 2 Carolina Wrens with each other scoping out the ground in the front yard around the base of the suet feeder. None were vocal, but I suppose I wouldn't want to be singing too much with the copious amounts of rain coming down today, and the fact that it is not breeding season!


Anyhow, here is today's full list of birds observed are below. Happy birding everyone!

Mourning Dove	5
Red-bellied Woodpecker	1
Downy Woodpecker	1
Blue Jay	2
Black-capped Chickadee	8
Tufted Titmouse	6
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1
White-breasted Nuthatch	2
Carolina Wren	2
White-throated Sparrow	1
Dark-eyed Junco	5
Northern Cardinal	3
House Finch	2
American Goldfinch	4

Project FeederWatch - Week 2 (11/28/2010)

Nothing overly significant to report with this post....just want to keep a "journal" of sorts of my time participating in Project FeederWatch this year. Though I would imagine on a week-to-week basis that the numbers and variety of species of birds will not change very much. As it is for this weekend (Sunday rather), a very noisy and boisterous Carolina Wren and an always lovely little Red-breasted Nuthatch were the highlights of this week's observance! What was most pleasant was that the RBNH stuck around the black sunflower seed tube feeder during most of the time I watched the feeders, whereas the Carolina was here for a few minutes, flitting from lilac to tree to shrub, etcetera. And yes, the RBNH was making its cute, nasally little "anks"! Anyhoo, here is my full list of sightings around our feeders:

Mourning Dove	4
Downy Woodpecker	1
Hairy Woodpecker	1
Blue Jay	2
Black-capped Chickadee	6
Tufted Titmouse	5
Red-breasted Nuthatch	1
White-breasted Nuthatch	2
Carolina Wren	1
Dark-eyed Junco	3
Northern Cardinal	2

eBird Report - Gray Farm Road, Littleton, MA, 6/22/10 - I really need to invest in a small, compact pair of binocs!!!

This isn't the first time I wished I had a small, compact pair of binoculars on me, you know, something you could possibly stuff in a pant pocket or what not, something like 8x32 to 10x32. Today was one of those instances where I wish I had such binocs on my person. Birding was not my main objective today, as I was out walking my beloved little fox-like dog, Gildor (whom is a tri-colored Pembroke Welsh Corgi). NOTE: Picture was taken last July while on vacation in Pittsburg, NH; this particular shot taken while visiting Scott's Bog specifically).

But when I do venture out and take the "puppa" for a "W" (walk), I am always listening to my surroundings, trying to look for movement and what not because ya never know what is out there even if birding is not your primary focus. Every bird I saw today I could make out well enough, and coupled with these birds observed singing, was 100% positive on all identifications despite having no binocs on hand. Still, how very frustrating, because I could've gotten excellent views of such birds as Indigo Buntings, Prairie Warblers, a Carolina Wren, a House Wren, an Eastern Phoebe and an Eastern Bluebird. Oh well, such is life. Its just nice to see such birds in an area that will soon be fully developed for residential use, a locale that was probably once fields, pastures and secondary growth woodlands. Nonetheless, it is just such a pleasure to be more aware of your surroundings, to listen to everything that calls the area around you home, and of course, since birding is such an avid and passionate hobby of mine, always being frosty for the presence of our fine-feathered avian friends! Happy birding everybody!!

Location:     Gray Farm Road, Littleton, MA
Observation date:     6/22/10
Notes:     This area also encompasses what I assume will be later called Darrell Road (according to Google Maps) once this particular area of housing development is complete. Was out walking my dog, hence why I listed this is an "incidental" observation. Was trying to observe the birds around me while with my dog. Much birdier than it has been in the past in this partially developed residential area.
Number of species:     29

Killdeer - Charadrius vociferus     1
Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     4
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens     1
Eastern Phoebe - Sayornis phoebe     1
Red-eyed Vireo - Vireo olivaceus     1
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata     2
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos     3
Bank Swallow - Riparia riparia     2
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus     3
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor     2
White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis     1
Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus     1
House Wren - Troglodytes aedon     1
Eastern Bluebird - Sialia sialis     1
American Robin - Turdus migratorius     6
Gray Catbird - Dumetella carolinensis     1
Northern Mockingbird - Mimus polyglottos     3
Prairie Warbler - Dendroica discolor     2
Common Yellowthroat - Geothlypis trichas     1
Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina     1
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia     2
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis     2
Indigo Bunting - Passerina cyanea     2
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus     5
Common Grackle - Quiscalus quiscula     2
Brown-headed Cowbird - Molothrus ater     1
House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus     2
American Goldfinch - Spinus tristis     4
House Sparrow - Passer domesticus     5

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/massaudubon/)

eBird Report - 83 Hartwell Avenue, Littleton, MA 01460 , 3/5/10 - Very vocal Carolina Wrens!

Location:     83 Hartwell Avenue, Littleton, MA 01460
Observation date:     3/5/10
Notes:     Definitely the first time I have seen 2 Carolina Wrens on our property at the same time! Always a pleasure! The 4 House Finches (2 m, 2 f) have been the first ones I have seen since December. All in all a fairly active morning at our home in Littleton.
Number of species:     17

Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura     3
Downy Woodpecker - Picoides pubescens     3
Hairy Woodpecker - Picoides villosus     3
Blue Jay - Cyanocitta cristata     3
American Crow - Corvus brachyrhynchos     2
Black-capped Chickadee - Poecile atricapillus     7
Tufted Titmouse - Baeolophus bicolor     6
White-breasted Nuthatch - Sitta carolinensis     3
Carolina Wren - Thryothorus ludovicianus     2
American Robin - Turdus migratorius     4
Song Sparrow - Melospiza melodia     1
White-throated Sparrow - Zonotrichia albicollis     2
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate-colored) - Junco hyemalis hyemalis/carolinensis     3
Northern Cardinal - Cardinalis cardinalis     2
Red-winged Blackbird - Agelaius phoeniceus     3
House Finch - Carpodacus mexicanus     4
American Goldfinch - Carduelis tristis     1

This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/massaudubon/)